Their debut demo in the works since 2011, Little Rock, Arkansas, four-piece Napalm Christ released 2012 Demo just last month on tape through the UK’s Goatprayer Records (info here). Well, I guess the world was just waiting for it, since in addition to getting picked up by that label for release, the band has also signed to A389 Recordings to issue the demo — which presumably will get a retitling of some sort, or, you know, not — and their full-length debut, both of which can be expected in 2014.

More to come, but for now, here’s the PR wire with the latest:

NAPALM CHRIST: Little Rock Underlords Sign With A389 Recordings

Vinyl Issue Of Malicious 2013 Demo & Debut LP Slated

A389 Recordings proclaims their new liaison with Arkansas-based underlords, NAPALM CHRIST.

Formed in late 2010, NAPALM CHRIST unites a crew of longtime henchmen who have helped shape the Little Rock area extreme music scene over the past two or more decades. Since the early 1990s, the four horsemen who form NAPALM CHRIST have collectively spent time at war with the mainstream in Rwake, Shredding Corpse, Pale Unearthed, Shitfire, Witch’s Tit and others. In this cult they unify their hateful ways and debauchery-ridden tactics into a volatile brew of charged-up, doom/grind-influenced death metal, reeking of days past, yet with enough potency to give fair warning of much darker days to come.

Initiated as a side-project, things got out of control, and NAPALM CHRIST began infecting the planet with recorded material, thus far accumulated in a series of random online demos, singles and comp inclusions. The latter of said demos was released via Bandcamp in June 2013, and that’s when A389 caught a whiff of the band’s trail. Recorded by Alan Wells with assistance from Keith Bracy in Little Rock, and mastered by Collin Jordan at Boiler Room Mastering in Chicago, and masked with illustrations by Dennis Lee Hughes, A389 will manifest this half-hour of disturbing anthems into an official 12″ vinyl release, followed by their debut LP later in the year. Exact street dates on both pending releases will be announced in the coming weeks. For now stream the entire 2013 Demo HERE.

NAPALM CHRIST:
Kiffin Rogers (Rwake) – guitar, vocals
Michael Lawrence (Witches Tit, Shitfire) – guitar
Alan Wells (Shitfire, ex-Rwake) – bass, vocals
David Sroczynski (Shredded Corpse) – drums

2013 Demo Track Listing:
1. Idols of Evil
2. Life is Dimming
3. Reclaimed by the Earth
4. Nuclear Holy War
5. Despoilment of Will
6. Burning Away the Scourge

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Napalm-Christ/155428467808655
http://napalmchrist.bandcamp.com
https://soundcloud.com/napalm-christ
https://www.youtube.com/user/NapalmChristAR/videos

Napalm Christ, 2013 Demo

Arkansas extremists Napalm Christ (which features members of Rwake, Shitfire and Shredded Corpse) have released their debut demo tape on UK imprint Goatprayer Records. Armed with one of those make-you-slap-your-forehead-because-you-didn’t-think-of-it-first bandnames and a host of muddy blasts and deathly squibblies, Napalm Christ work in a deceptive variety of moods. Actually, maybe “variety” is too strong a word. It’s all pretty grim in terms of mood, but neither is the band just blasting their listeners into oblivion. They keep it interesting across the demo’s six tracks and use two guitars well to add depth to the sound.

To wit, the nine-minute “Reclaimed by the Earth” weaves in and out of acoustic flourish and all-out ripping with gripping fluidity, and while the vocals are kept to shouts and growls, even they can affect some measure of emotionality in the context of the music surrounding. Mostly it’s desperate. And brutal. And sometimes, that’s just the thing. In addition to the tape out now through the crust-bringing Goatprayer types — not quite sure if that’s someone who prays to a goat or the prayer of a goat, but right on either way — Napalm Christ‘s demo can be downloaded for free from Bandcamp, and that player follows the PR wire note below:

NAPALM CHRIST – ‘DEMO’

6 track Demo from US band NAPALM CHRIST now available on cassette from Goatprayer Records. (Bonus track only available on cassette.

Featuring current & ex-members of RWAKE, SHITFIRE & SHREDDED CORPSE.

The demo is filled with a wall of FilthyGrindingDoom with influences ranging from all angles.

Kiffin Rogers – Guitar, Vocals
Michael Lawrence – Guitar
Alan Wells – Bass, Vocals
David Sroczynski – Drums

Recorded by Alan Wells with assistance from Keith Bracy (Little Rock, AR)
Mastered by Collin Jordan at Boiler Room Mastering (Chicago, IL)
Artwork by Dennis Lee Hughes

www.goatprayerrecords.com
www.facebook.com/goatprayerrecords
www.facebook.com/pages/Napalm-Christ/155428467808655

Napalm Christ, 2013 Demo

Proliferating an extreme take on sludge and more traditional death metal, Little Rock, Arkansas, four-piece Napalm Christ (how was there not already a band named this?) come with built-in interest owing to a pedigree tied to Shitfire, Shredded Corpse, and most notably, Rwake. Judging by the one track Napalm Christ has put online — pick your social network — they’re not afraid to either squibbly, blast or riff out; “The Seasons of Dirt” makes use of all the above in its short three-minute runtime.

Pushing sludge into the angrier, extreme metal territory might not be everyone’s thing, and I’m pretty sure they’re not the first ones to do it, but the fact remains that this is how genres grow. Napalm Christ‘s “The Seasons of Dirt,” apparently instrumental until recently, is formative, to be sure, but there aren’t many bands out there transgressing these stylistic lines. Whatever hype follows them because of their alliances, I hear a lot of sludge, and not a lot of it sounds like this.